Forget Punxsutawney Phil. To predict the end of winter weather, D.C. is relying on its own groundhog from now on — the famous Pennsylvanian’s brother, Potomac Phil. But perhaps “Taxidermy Phil” is more apt name for what was sprung on the crowd Thursday in Dupont Circle. At the District’s first Groundhog Day celebration, the Potomac woodchuck stood suspiciously still. Turns out real groundhogs in the wild are hibernating this time of year, making them very hard to come by. So organizers of the D.C. event substituted a dead, stuffed version of the mammal.
And instead of using the groundhog’s shadow to predict the District’s future weather, Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans and the Dupont Festival organizers gathered around the stiff creature in black top hats to “listen” for his forecast.
